


Seven Seas of Rhye

by Ninni



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Cegan, Emotional Manipulation, M/M, Negan/Carl - Freeform, Slow Burn, Violence, carl as an insider at the saviors, carl is 18, cause hey it's negan, dark/grey!rick grimes, shifting loyalties, spy!carl, there will be blood and heartbreak
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 23:06:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13669173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninni/pseuds/Ninni
Summary: Rick Grimes suspects Negan might have one weakness – Carl. And Rick intends to use it to his advantage.Features spy!Carl and manipulative!Rick. Diverges from canon after 7x7.





	Seven Seas of Rhye

**Seven Seas of Rhye**

_Prologue_

_Fear me you lord and lady preachers_

_I descend upon your earth from the skies_

_I command your very souls you unbelievers_

_Bring before me what is mine_

_The Seven Seas of Rhye_

”No fucking way,” Carl said, one eye narrowing in disbelief at his dad from across the hood of the car. “Are you kidding me? You’re _kidding_ me, right?”

Rick’s face was tired and pale, his mouth a thin line when he said, quietly: “Watch your mouth. You think any of this is a joke? It ain’t a joke, it’s an order. We’re running out of options, Carl.”

“That’s _not_ an option,” Carl hissed. “What makes you even think it would work?”

“He likes you,” Rick said tightly, looking like the words left a vile taste in his mouth. His knuckles rested on the car as he leant forwards, staring Carl down with a cold grey, glare that made Carl look away. “It’s obvious he’s got a soft spot for you, or you _never_ would’ve walked away from the Sanctuary after killing two of his men. We can’t afford _not_ to expose his weaknesses, and far as I can tell, he only seems to have one.”

Carl swore again. “This is insane. I’m not his weakness, and I’m not gonna be your little spy inside the Sanctuary. Do you _not_ hear how _messed up_ that sounds?”

Rick’s fist collided forcefully against the hood of the car, and Carl flinched. “Take a damn look around,” Rick told him in a furious snarl. “Do you think I want this? Think I _want_ to send you to that psychopath? We don’t have a choice Carl, we have to do something, _I_ have to do something!”

“Doesn’t sound like you’ll be the one doing much of the work,” Carl remarked crossly. “How would this even work? Negan’s many things, but he ain’t stupid. He’s gonna know if I’m running off to Alexandria. Even if I managed to get any useful information, and that’s a big ass if, I wouldn’t be able to pass it on.”

“You’ll offer to come with when they’re collecting goods,” Rick said slowly, his head turned as he watched two walkers approaching them further down the road. “We’ll have to come up with some sort of code you’ll use to communicate with us, but it’ll work.”

Carl curled his fists and felt anger and resentment pour in his gut as he bit out: “You seem to have given this a lot of thought.”

Rick looked back at him, with that glassy eyed look on his face that he’d had ever since Negan first had forced him to his knees – it was a look Carl _hated_ , his dad looked like a broken little bitch, scared and jumpy; nothing like the man Carl remembered from when he was a kid. “I’m sorry,” Rick told him tonelessly. “I don’t want to ask this of you.”

Carl’s mouth twisted into a bitter sneer. “You askin’, now? What the hell am I even going to tell him?”

Rick pulled out a knife, regarded the blade for a moment, before he spoke. “You’re gonna tell him,” he drawled, “That your only interest is staying alive. And that your sorry ass father no longer can guarantee that for you. Shouldn’t be that hard to believe,” he added bitterly, striding away from the car.

Carl closed his eye.

The sound of two swift stabs, followed by two thuds.

The walkers were down, and as their wet wheezing noises faded to nothing, Carl could hear the faint rustling of the wind in the trees around them. He thought of Judith, and of Negan’s horrible barbed-wired bat, and about how he would do _anything_ to keep her from it.

He thought of Lori, and the promises he made to her; promises he’d spent his entire life breaking because nothing had ever felt _right_ – he’d spent his whole life choosing one lesser evil over a worse one, and what _right_ felt like was long forgotten, if he’d ever even known what it was to begin with.

Carl eye drew open again, and he stared up into the bright blue sky. “I’ll do it,” he said.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay darlings, my first Cegan WIP, and I'm very excited about it. This is obviously very short, only a prologue, and the following parts will be longer. Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are things of beauty. ^.~ xNinni
> 
> The initial lyrics is from Queen's gorgeous song 'Seven Seas of Rhye'.


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